Goodnight MonsterKiller
by Bar-Ohki
Summary: Everyone has fears, especially children. As a parental tag team, where Mamori does not succeed, Youichi takes up the slack....


Author's Note: This story was inspired by Voltaire's 'Goodnight Demonslayer'. You can look it up on YouTube.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hiruma or Mamori.

Rating: K+ for light swearing.

Pairings: Established HiruMamo.

Goodnight Monster-Killer

Hiruma Youichi and Anezaki Mamori had a son. He was a beautiful boy, looked just like a miniature version of his father except he had distinctly blue eyes and a personality that obviously came from his mother. Not that their little Kenshin was timid, but he was fatherly and gentle in ways his father simply wasn't. Of course, being a gentle child did mean he had fears that a child with a more analytical mind wouldn't have. Like fears of monsters in his room at night.

Mamori didn't know what to do. She'd tried just about everything, stories, lullabies, staying with Kenshin until he fell asleep, you name it, she did it. And yet, night after night, Kenshin would have a nightmare or wake right up the moment his mother left. Being a young child, he'd come running to his parent's bed.

Youichi was a tolerant parent. It wasn't like he didn't love his son to pieces, because he did, but he had little tolerance for certain things his child did. Like disrupting his sleep or, even worse, his sex life. So after Mamori had tried everything, Youichi decided this was going to come to an end. Tonight.

"Oi! Kenshin!" Youichi called out to his son. He was standing in the boy's room with the lights off. Kenshin didn't like his room with the lights off which was one of the reasons the monster problem came up in the first place.

"Yeah D-dad?" Kenshin made a point to stand in the hallway and avoid the bedroom. Fear of the bedroom will eventually translate to fear of sleeping and Youichi wasn't going to let it get to that.

"Is there a reason you can't talk to me like a normal person in a room?" Youichi asked dryly. Kenshin knew his dad was running out of patience and came into the room, trying to not get freaked out.

"Come sit with me." Youichi invited the boy to sit down on the bed next to him.

Hesitantly, Kenshin came over and sat next to his father. He knew better than to turn on the lights, Dad must have left them off for a reason. Dad never did anything without a reason. When he finished settling down, Youichi put a firm hand on his son's shoulder. This was partly to keep the kid from bolting and partly to give him some courage.

"Well," Youichi began slowly, "your Mom tells me you're having some troubles with the monsters in your room at night."

"She says they aren't real." Kenshin pouted slightly. They were real, very real to him.

"That's because she's never seen them," Youichi explained, "since I chase them away before she can notice."

"Really!?" Kenshin gasped.

"Of course!" Youichi smirked. "I'm the biggest, scariest, thing ever. Why would a monster ever want to go near me?"

Kenshin laughed. He didn't think Dad was scary unless he was mad. And Youichi was well aware of the fact his wife and son didn't find him intimidating. Though secretly, Youichi was always amused by the fact Kenshin was always confused as to why people thought his dad was scary.

"Now Kenshin," Youichi continued, "you are my son and you are just as scary as me."

"Eh?" Kenshin blinked.

"Because Kenshin, like me, you're a monster-killer. If they come, then let them. You'll just beat them up." Youichi went on.

"I can beat monsters up?" Kenshin frowned, confused now.

"Of course, they are _monsters_ not _people."_ Youichi reminded his son. The only difference between Kenshin and his dad besides the eyes was that he had managed to get a set of abnormally sturdy American-quality muscle from his maternal great-grandmother. Kenshin would be faster and stronger than Youichi ever was, so from an early age Mamori made a point to teach her son to stay out of fights.

"Oh." Kenshin nodded. That made sense. "So I just beat any monster that comes in here up?"

"Try threatening them first." Youichi suggested. "Whoever successfully scares the other wins in this sort of thing."

Now if there was one thing Kenshin and Youichi really did have in common, it was the fact they _loathed_ losing. Kenshin's expression turned set and serious. He was ready to fight off the monsters tonight.

"Now its bedtime," Youichi remarked after checking his cell phone where Kenshin could see it, "do you need anything?"

"…Can you tuck me in?" Kenshin asked, a little embarrassed. He liked being tucked in.

Youichi smiled. "Sure."

And so Youichi tucked his son in, leaving a kiss on his son's forehead before slipping out of the room. In the hallway Mamori was standing there with a perplexed frown. She just watched the entire interaction and didn't quite understand where Youichi came up with this technique, or even why it worked.

"It's what _my_ dad did with me;" Youichi answered the unspoken question with a small smirk, "except it was demon-slaying, not monster-killing."

"You honestly thought there were demons in your room when you were little?" Mamori stifled laughter.

"Oh they were there, I just scared them off." Youichi assured her with a very serious and straight face. He's not going to admit that he still does believe that demons would try to attack him in his sleep if he doesn't scare them off. It was one of those illogical childhood fears he had to this day. Not that Mamori would really know or care about that because he scared them away from him every night.

"Sure, sure." Mamori chuckled and went on down the hall. "You just wanted to have me to yourself tonight anyways." She knew that much.

"Am I at fault for wanting to snuggle my fucking wife?" Youichi asked her quietly as they entered the bedroom.

"Don't call me that."

"Sure thing, fucking wife."

_=_=_=_=_

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